V: 1x01 "Pilot" 11/3/2009 - Grading & Discussion

[melancholymecha]

I need something cleared up(had some distractions while watching)- was the FBI lady's partner one of the aliens?

not bad...Id have thought a lot of people would just assume it was some very huge(expensive) hoax or publicity stunt, especially since the aliens all look like Hollywood actors in nice suits.

 

[Trekker4747]

I need something cleared up(had some distractions while watching)- was the FBI lady's partner one of the aliens?

Yeah.

Oh, on top of Fat Douchey Teenage Guy I don't like Stuffy Windsor-Knot Fox News Guy.

 

[Neroon]

You killed Wash! You bastards!

Hey... from the teaser, it looks like he's back!!!!

Curse his sudden but inevitable betrayal!
(Okay, a friend coined that not me)

 

[FreezeC77]

Yea the Lost pilot is definitely on my short-list for best TV show pilots ever. I know I have 24's pilot on that list.

This show? eh not so much. I didn't really buy the reactions of people to the sudden appearance of aliens. Nowhere near enough hysteria or craziness, now if its revealed that these Visitor sleeper cells somehow spiked the global water supply or atmosphere with some kind of drug then that's the only way I could believe what this show presented in the first half of the pilot.

Hell even the meeting of the resistance just seemed pretty odd. I do think the second half of the pilot was better, and I'll probably keep checking it out, but unless it somehow grabs me I can definitely see myself writing it off when it goes on hiatus after this month.

I didn't really like Moreena Baccarin as Adria on SG-1 so I was a little worried about how she'd be as this new Visitor leader role, but I think she was probably the highlight of the pilot.

 

[Vonstadt]

This really surprised me, I really liked it and went into it thinking I really wouldn't.

I liked the nice tie into to the fascist power arrival that already had 'agents' preparing the beachhead for their arrival. I loved the sleeper cell of Visitors and FBI inflitration. Got me to thinking just how much our law enforcement, government and military has been 'infected' by sleeper agents already.

Overall this was a very pleasant surprise. I think I will keep watching this.

Vons

 

[Trekker4747]

I honestly didn't like Moreena much in this. But I'm just not feeling the "character" any, I guess. She also doesn't look good with short hair like that.

 

[omnirad]

Meh. Annoying teenagers, blatant manipulation, FBI agents, witless ironic self references; the taste of formulatic TV lingers in my screen. I was hoping for something a little bit original, but this is a remake after all... though I shouldn't be bored this much.

 

[Thelin]

Some of the dramatic tension scenes were awful, mainly the ones dealing with the teenagers. I almost turned it off when Erica said, "Is this because of your father?" I chuckled out loud at the way the kid reacted.

The closing minutes helped the show, for sure. I do think it was a poor idea to rush through the beginning like they did, but if they can slow it down from here on out they may have something of decent quality on their hands.

The old priest that works with Jack is definitely a Visitor.

 

[Maestro]

OK, so Wash survives, but it looks like Rekha Sharma is in next week's episode. I had some sort of 'gasm during the previews.

 

[Jetfire]

Average.

I don't see this series lasting long. IMHO.

 

[Anthony Sabre]

Regardless, I'll be giving it a chance. This type of show is right up my alley. I have a fixation with alien invasion shows. Sitting on my shelf I've got: V the mini series, V the series, Invaders, Invasion, Threshold, Surface, Alien Nation and War of the Worlds. Hoping this one last longer than one season.

 

[Mr Light]

I'm cautiously optimistic about this show. Certainly great to see all the former SF TV stars in it. I wish the Visitors were portrayed more ambiguously though, like they're going to conquer us but peacefully for economic reasons or what have you.

 

[Gotham Central]

There is a really good show to be had in this...the problem is that it was rushed.

The original took its time introducing the Visitors. Hell in the original, the Visitors took their time before even making the initial communication. In the original, the first meeting at the UN was a HUGE event.

The new version was simply too much too quickly without giving us or the characters a chance to really absorb the monumental nature of what was happening. Perhaps the writiers decided that since the Visitor's "secret" was not much of a secret anymore, they saw no reason to drag it all out. I can appreciate that logic, it just hurts the story.


I do wonder why they decided to reduce the number of motherships to 29 from the original 50?

 

[hyzmarca]

Am I the only person who was laughing when the Visitors attacked the resistance with knives and axes instead of using guns?

 

[T'Bonz]

I enjoyed the show and at least, for the short term, will watch. That is very rare. Even rarer is sticking around for the entire run.

Random thoughts:

- I'd expect more panic, fear, suspicion and a helluva lot less acceptance and trust.
- The teenage son is a DOPE and deserves to be eaten as a snack.
- Is anyone else tired of the cliched "Mom was dumped by husband, but no, she's not bitter, and oh dear, her kids just don't get it/or blame her somehow." *snore!*

Even though I'm watching (thus far,) part of me is already picking it to shreds. That isn't good.

This ep should have been a lot more about the REACTIONS to the appearance of aliens for the first time, not jumping into the Resistance straight off, or giving away so much so quickly.

 

[melancholymecha]

I need something cleared up(had some distractions while watching)- was the FBI lady's partner one of the aliens?

Yeah.

thanks!

I have a feeling they are sort of "spiking the water supply" ...those healing centers...very suspiscious.

The new version was simply too much too quickly without giving us or the characters a chance to really absorb the monumental nature of what was happening. Perhaps the writiers decided that since the Visitor's "secret" was not much of a secret anymore, they saw no reason to drag it all out. I can appreciate that logic, it just hurts the story.

well there's also the fact that this being a sci-fi show on a network, that they knew they werent going to have the luxury of having a lot of episodes to take their time telling the story. Go too slowly and they run the risk of getting cancelled before the aliens even land on earth! It sucks but that's network tv for you.

 

[Jetfire]

- I'd expect more panic, fear, suspicion and a helluva lot less acceptance and trust.
- The teenage son is a DOPE and deserves to be eaten as a snack.
- Is anyone else tired of the cliched "Mom was dumped by husband, but no, she's not bitter, and oh dear, her kids just don't get it/or blame her somehow." *snore!*

YES! Thank you. I was thinking the same.

 

[TerriO]

This is possibly the worst writing I've ever seen in a pilot. This episode should be used as an illustration in why the "show, don't tell" rule exists. Too much crammed into this episode, absolutely no grounding to the storyline whatsoever, too much handwaving, and definitely not enough backup to major story points like the why the resistance even exists. All of the major story points happen offscreen. The characters are passengers in the story and not even remotely a part of it. We shouldn't be told that they're reptilian under fake skin, ever. We should have found out when Tudyk's makeup went. This is just infuriatingly bad writing. Poor. Below poor.

 

[QCzar]

So much about this show (the annoying teeny bopper, the
rushed story, etc.) has *The Suits* written all over it.

 

[Anthony Sabre]

- The teenage son is a DOPE and deserves to be eaten as a snack.

I thought that was interesting. Seeing as how they give him the name Tyler, I thought he was going to be like "Ham" Tyler from the original series. But his character is playing out a lot more like Daniel. Too early to tell but looking forward to seeing how he develops.